Writing

There’s A Word For That

Posted onAuthorSheryl R. Hayes

And the word is sitzfleisch.

Sitzfleich means to sit through or tolerate something boring.  Its secondary definition is to endure or persist in a task. I first came across the term at The Write Practice. I had no clue there was a word to describe slogging through something I would rather be not be doing.

Right now that describes working on the fourth draft of my first novel.  I want to be done with it.   I know it needs at least another polish before I can think about submitting it anywhere. However, I find myself sitting in front of my computer and wanting to do anything but work it. I want to start writing book two in the series, or outline book three. I want to knit my costume for BayCon 2014. I want to knock out a few rounds of Candy Crush Saga.  I will do almost anything but work on that fourth draft.*

As with all things, there is a price to pay for your decisions.  While all those other things are fun, and some even need to be done, there’s no point in having a book two, a book three, or even a blog post if I don’t have book one.  So I sit down, grit my teeth, and apply fingers to the keyboard.  I give myself permission to suck,  because I can always go back and fix it.  Eventually, I do fall back in love with what I’m working on, find my rhythm, and continue moving forward.

*Like writing this post instead of editing, but that’s beside the point.

7 Replies to “There’s A Word For That”

  4. In Animator’s Survival Kit he stresses to never reply on music for getting in the mood for any creativity. So far, he is alone in this. The Write Practice seems to like using music as a go-to for inspiration, as do lots of folks. What say you?

    Thanks for the new word, I never knew there was a word for something I do so often! From trudging through my own creativity at times, to certain social interactions… I do love this word.

  6. I have mixed feelings on relying on music. I have a set of songs that I feel work with my writing themes and I will play it when I’m having problems setting a mood. But sometimes I’m writing in situations where I can’t play music or don’t have access to my headphones. So I won’t say don’t play music, but don’t get so dependent on it that if you don’t have access to music, you won’t be creatively blocked.

    Hmm… maybe I should explore this a little more for a future post. 😉

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